The papers and blogs are buzzing about the latest Taliban hit on the US logistics coming into Pakistan - more than a hundred vehicles up in smoke. Not good news.
The guard said that militants stormed a truck terminal and fought a light
gun-battle with security personnel, who surrendered. The militants told the
guards to stop working for NATO, and then poured gasoline over the containers
and lit them.
Peshawar abuts Pakistan's barely governed tribal areas, which are rife with violence. With attention focused on tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai last month, U.S. officials are concerned that the government in Islamabad will throttle back on its confrontation with militants in the tribal areas, opening the door to more such strikes.
Peshawar abuts Pakistan's barely governed tribal areas, which are rife with violence. With attention focused on tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the attacks in Mumbai last month, U.S. officials are concerned that the government in Islamabad will throttle back on its confrontation with militants in the tribal areas, opening the door to more such strikes.
U.S. military officials in Afghanistan declined to specify
the number of vehicles destroyed in Sunday's attack, but described the losses as
militarily insignificant.
The bold assault underscored the vulnerability of supplies moving by road through Pakistan. About three-quarters of the supplies bound for U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan -- fuel, food and equipment -- travel by road through perilous mountain passes after being shipped to the port of Karachi. Afghanistan has no sea access.
The bold assault underscored the vulnerability of supplies moving by road through Pakistan. About three-quarters of the supplies bound for U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops in Afghanistan -- fuel, food and equipment -- travel by road through perilous mountain passes after being shipped to the port of Karachi. Afghanistan has no sea access.
Yeah, ten million plus destroyed in a day. Just a drop in the bucket for the $2 billion a month being spent for our operations in Afghanistan. As Fixer notes, the irony is that this is how the Taliban chased the Soviets out of Afghanistan in the 1980s. And as I noted in past posts, this problem will only get worse as the number of US forces in Afghanistan rise, unless the Pakistani military and US military significantly increase security over the convoys.
These new or not?
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2008/12/arms_control.html
Posted by: Kilo | 09 December 2008 at 08:33 AM
The first two, I'm not familiar with (nuke stuff, how boringly familiar). The third link is old news, DOD/DHS/DOE R&D for CBRN defense capabilities. Nothing new there, same old stuff. I like that FAS site for its links to official govt documents, but sometimes it's dated. Still good source for official references when writing up papers.
Posted by: J. | 09 December 2008 at 09:13 AM